Disclaimer – I don't own the characters of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.

Summary – Dawn learns more than she wanted to about why her sister has been avoiding her. Will she lose a friend in the process? Post-Older and Far Away.

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A/N – This just kind of popped into my head, like most of my stories do. I was watching "Older and Far Away" (where Dawn makes that wish), and was wondering, by the end, how Spike would have reacted, if he wasn't thinking constantly of Buffy. In Season Five, I noticed how much Dawn seemed to look up to Spike – asking him to tell her stories and things like that. How would Spike react when he finds out that Dawn's been stealing things?

Oh, and keep in mind that Dawn is a teenager, so the thoughts that she has will be teenager-ish.

Well, as of two weeks after wanting to finish this, it's done. I changed the summary and everything, but it's still the same story. People might be a little out of character, sorry.

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Understanding

She knew she had screwed up. She knew that she shouldn't have stolen things, but Buffy was never home, and Spike seemed to never be around either. Willow and Tara were busy with their differences, and Xander and Anya... Well, she didn't want to deal with Anya right now.

She couldn't really remember when exactly she had started to do it – it had just started to happen. After going to that party, after kissing that vampire... She shuddered. If it hadn't been for Giles and Spike, she knew she would be dead right now, or worse – turned. She hadn't expected Giles to be the one to lecture her – a part of her wished it had been her mother, or Buffy who had talked to her. She figured that she might have listened – or at least cared – if it had been her to do it.

She had realized, as Giles had failed miserably at lecturing her, that it really didn't matter what she did. Buffy wasn't caring at this point, and Giles would never have the nerve to outright yell at her. It seemed like no one cared. So, she had started to take things. At first, it had just been from the Magic Box, then, for Buffy's birthday present, since no one had come with her, she had stolen the dress. She supposed that some part of her subconcious had wanted attention. She craved it, and since she wasn't getting it... she stole things.

She wanted her sister back. Ever since she had been brought back, Buffy had been acting strange – Spike had started to act that way as well.

Secretly, she wondered if the two were together. The way both of them were acting, she was surprised that no one else had figured it out.

She sighed, and got ready for another day at Sunnydale High.

****

It was late. She knew it was late, but she had wanted to get out, just for a little while. She hadn't planned to go anywhere specific, just... around. She knew that it wasn't smart to be walking through Sunnydale after dark, but no one was home.

As she rounded a corner, she spotted a familiar blond head going the opposite direction.

"Hey, Spike! Over here!" She waved to him, but he didn't seem to notice her. "Spike!"

his head turned so fast that if he wasn't a vampire, she was positive he would have gotten whiplash.

"Niblit?" He eyed her carefully, from her shoes to her hair, once, twice, and a third time. "What are you doin' out here this late, 'Bit?"

"I couldn't sleep," Dawn lied easily.

"Don't lie to me, 'Bit. I know you've been doin' some stuff you shouldn't be."

"Oh, and why would you care?" Dawn shot back, all of the anger she had been keeping bottled up erupting out in a torent of words. "You and Buffy are never here! I can't talk to anyone, and Giles is so horrible at trying to lecture me, that it's a joke! So, how can you say that you care when you wouldn't even have noticed if Buffy hadn't told you?"

Spike looked wounded for a second, before the expression faded and was replaced with indifference. "So, she told you, then?"

"Told me what?"

"Come on, 'Bit. I'm sure you've noticed..." Spike pushed, feeling an odd sense of satisfaction that Buffy's secret was about to be exposed. He didn't care if the other's hated him for what he and Buffy had done, and he thought it was pathetic that Buffy was trying to hide it. It wouldn't take Willow long to figure it out, if she wasn't dealing with problems with Tara at the moment. Hell, even Anya could figure it out...

"I don't know or care what you're talking about, Spike," Dawn said acidicly. "I wanted someone to talk to about everything, but I don't feel like talking to you now."

"Come on, 'Bit. Don't you care? I know you do, and even if you stole things... I know you're just dying to know what it is Buffy's been doing those nights she doesn't come home."

Dawn glared at him. "Leave me alone, Spike. I don't care, and I don't want to know!"

"Fine, then. I'll leave. But you think about what I told you, Dawn."

"Wait!" She reached out to him, but he backed away. "I... I want to talk to someone... but Buffy... she's never here, and... you're always with her, and –" She suddenly cut herself off, her eyes wide. "Oh, god. You and Buffy, you're always together, and –"

Spike just looked at her. "Now you know, then."

"No," Dawn whispered. "You didn't. You two... you didn't."

"We did," Spike smirked. "She wanted me to."

"Leave me alone, Spike!" Dawn spun on her heal and ran off toward her house, trying to get the thoughts in her head into some kind of order.

Spike and Buffy had been together. Wasn't it last year that Buffy had been disgusted by the thought of Spike ever liking her?

'The difference between now and last year is Buffy died.' She thought.

That had to be the reason. Why else would she?

Was it only her that knew? Surely, Giles had a guess...

She decided that she really didn't want to know.

As she got closer to her house, she noticed that Spike was leaning casually beside the front door.

"What do you want, Spike?"

"Just wanted to talk about other things."

"Who says I want to?" Dawn countered.

"If you didn't want to talk to someone, you wouldn't be doin' it right now, 'Bit."

Dawn's eyes narrowed. "I don't want to talk about anything!"

"You said yourself that you wanted to, and I know what it is you want to get off your chest." Spike stepped closer to her, his expression serious.

"yeah, and what would that be?"

"I know what you did, 'Bit."

"So?" Dawn backed a step away. "Why does it matter what I did?"

"I know that you stole things, and I also know why."

"So you know that no one cares, then?" Dawn's gaze shifted to look over Spike's head at the front door.

"Look, Niblit, we've all been... busy with other things."

"Like my sister?" Dawn said nastily.

She could have sworn she saw Spike flinch.

"Well –" Spike cut himself off, a slight smirk on his face. "Yeah."

Dawn tried to get past him, looking disgusted. "I don't want to talk to you, Spike. Leave me alone, now."

"Woe there, 'Bit. We're not done yet." Spike blocked the door again.

"Yes, we are. I'm not going to listen to –"

"The truth?"

"You bragging about –"

"I'm not braggin', Niblit! You're just not listenin' –"

"Because I don't want to! Don't you get it? I don't want to listen to you talk about... about... how – easy – or whatever, it was to get Buffy to –"

"Are you sure?" There was something in Spikes eyes that Dawn couldn't identify. Had she said something out of line? She shook her head, trying to clear it. Spike was the one who had started all of this, wasn't he?

"Yeah." It was just above a whisper, and she suddenly felt extremely tired. All of this was just so confusing.

"I'll go, then. You won't be seein' me around for a while. It'll make you feel better."

She opened her mouth to argue – she needed him here, no matter how much she said she didn't.

But Spike turned, and walked past her, his duster brushing against her arm.

She turned her head, wanting to run after him and tell him that she hadn't meant to push him away, but when she looked again, he was gone.

Blinking back frustrated tears, she stormed into the house, slamming the door and running up to her room.

She had screwed up, again.